As the game went on, the third period hit like a storm.The score was close—too close—and every muscle in my body was wound tight like I was the one skating out there instead of sitting on cold bleachers with buttery popcorn grease on my fingers. Ryans looked like fire on the ice, sweat darkening his hair, jersey clinging to his shoulders as he fought through every shift.June, on the other hand, continued to be the picture of chaos beside me.“I swear, number twelve just winked at me,” she whispered urgently, clutching my sleeve.I arched a brow. “Pretty sure he was wincing after getting checked into the boards.”She ignored me. “No, no. It was a wink. I’m marking my calendar. This is the start of our love story.”“June,” I deadpanned, “you’ve said that about four different players tonight.”“Don’t box me in, Skylar. I contain multitudes.” She stuffed more popcorn into her mouth, eyes glittering with mischief.I shook my head, laughing softly, then froze when Ryans gained control of
One hour before …The night air felt alive when June and I finally stepped out of our dorm room. She’d changed into a glittery cropped hoodie and ripped jeans, her curls bouncing like she’d styled them with a cheer squad’s worth of energy. I had to laugh at her and then myself as we walked together. Two weeks ago, I was swearing up and down that I would always prefer to live alone. No roommate. No surprises. No one to deal with. That's how I have always loved it. That's how it had always been. Until it changed.I could remember easily how I hated it. But now? Now, here I was, willingly linking arms with June as we headed across campus like we’d been best friends forever.She had that effect. Wild, eccentric, unpredictable but impossible not to like.It was crazily beautiful.“You realize you’re glowing, right?” June said now to me while nudging me with her elbow. “I should get commission for this makeover, you know. Seriously. Free ice cream for life or something.”I rolled my eye
Game days always felt different for me. The locker room had a kind of buzz you couldn’t replicate anywhere else—the smell of fresh ice clinging to our gear, the thud of skates being laced tight, the pounding music that kept us all hyped but slightly on edge. Normally, I thrived in that chaos. Normally. But tonight…it was a different ball game.Tonight, I couldn’t stop thinking about whether Skylar would show for the game. I’d invited her like it was nothing. “Hey, come to the game tomorrow.” But it hadn’t been casual at all. It had been me putting my heart on the line in a way I wasn’t used to. If she came, it meant something. If she didn’t…If course she had come to some of my games before. Especially as her brother was my teammate. But I was particularly anxious about today's own for reasons known to me. “Yo, Maddox.” Ethan snapped his fingers in front of my face. “You in there, man? You’ve retaped your stick like, three times.”I glanced down. Sure enough, I’d been wrapping and
It was the day of the game and by the time I dragged myself back to the dorm in the late afternoon, I felt like someone had wrung me out like a wet towel and left me crumpled under the sun. Every muscle in my body ached from sitting through endless classes, and my brain was a swamp of half-formed notes and things I was supposed to remember but already forgot. All I wanted—literally all I wanted —was to collapse on my bed, maybe eat something mindless like ramen, take a quick shower, and pass out for an hour or two before throwing on a hoodie for the game tonight.That was the plan. Simple. Blissful. Achievable.At least, that's what I thought.Except, apparently, June had drafted her own plan, and it was… not simple nor blissful.The second I pushed open the door, I was met with a squeal that nearly knocked me backward.“There she is!” June leapt up from her desk like she’d been waiting all day for this. Her eyes were sparkling with something I didn’t trust. I narrowed my eyes at he
One hour before…At first, I didn't know I would end up in front of Skylar’s dorm room until I did. It seemed to be that my legs had walked of their accord to the very person I had been thinking about all afternoon and evening.By the time I made it to her dorm hallway, my body was exhausted, but my mind was worse. I’d been replaying the cafeteria fight all afternoon—the way her face fell, the tears in her eyes, the words she spat at me that cut sharper than any blade. I couldn’t just leave it hanging overnight. Not when the thought of her walking away from me felt like someone had reached inside and twisted my guts.So I waited for her.I relaxed against the wall like I belonged there, arms crossed, trying not to let the nerves show as I waited for her. When she finally rounded the corner, I swear my heart stumbled as I took her in. She froze as she stared at me as well with her key card clutched in her hand and eyes wide like I’d caught her off guard. And I indeed had. I knew my b
I was still trying to catch my breath, still feeling the ghost of Ryans’ lips on mine, when the hallway door creaked open.“Hellooo, children,” June sang in her overly dramatic stage voice as she cat-walked towards us. My whole body jerked back, like I’d just been caught stealing cookies out of a jar. Ryans immediately straightened too, even though he didn’t exactly look guilty. He just looked more like amused, his lips twitching as if he wanted to laugh at my panic.June stopped walking as she looked at us with narrowing eyes. She relaxed against the wall with one hand on her hip, the other holding a paper cup that was probably coffee even though with June it could just as easily have been green tea with honey and something weird like cayenne pepper. Her curls were bouncing wildly around her face, and her eyes darted between us like she’d just walked into the season finale of her favorite soap opera.“Well, well, well,” she said slowly after several moments of silence, dragging out